Ring circuits



Oct. 28, 1958 A. B. MOULTON I RING CIRCUITS Filed April 6, 1954 B4- Ll iV 46 47 I u H X 5o g sl INVEN'TDR HTTURNEY United States Patent RINGCIRCUITS Arthur B. Moulton, San Diego, Calif.

Application April 6, 1954, Serial No. 421,461 2 Claims. (Cl. 31584.5)

(Granted under Title 35, U. S. Code (1952), sec. 266) This invention isin ring circuits and specifically is a simple ring circuit utilizinggas-filled tubes only.

One object of the invention is to provide a ring circuit comprising onegas-filled tube for each stage.

Another object of the invention is to provide a ring circuit of thenature mentioned requiring no negative bias source such as is usuallyrequired.

Other objects will be apparent from a reading of the followingspecification and claims.

The drawing is a schematic diagram of a ring circuit according to myinvention.

In the drawing, 10, 11, and 12 are three gas-filled ring tubes. It willbe understood, of course, that the ring may contain as many tubes asdesired and that to complete the ring circuit connections must be madebetween points X and X on the one hand and Y and Y on the other.

The nature of the circuit will be thoroughly understood, it is believed,from a description of its operation. Assuming heater voltage to havebeen applied in conventional fashion, and plate voltage applied, alltubes are biased in like fashion by the currents flowing throughresistors 20, 21, and 22 (tube and the corresponding elements for theother stages, 23, 24, 25 (tube 11), and 26, 27, 28 (tube 12). Values forthese resistors are selected (in a manner to be explained) so asnormally to prevent tubes 10, 11, and 12 from conducting. Switch 35 isprovided for lowering the bias of tube 10 to zero (when closed) so thatthe ring circuit can be started.

When tube 10 conducts, its plate potential falls, and a small negativepulse is applied to the plates of the other tubes, but, since none ofthese is conducting, the pulse may be disregarded. As a result, however,of conduction in tube 10, the cathode-to-ground potential of tube 11 islowered, and the tube, therefore, will conduct more readily than theother tubes in the ring. Tube 12 is not similarly afiected.

A condition of imbalance now exists in the circuit such that if apositive trigger pulse is applied to the grids of all tubes, over line40, and the several resistance-capacitance circuits as 41, 42, tube 11will conduct, tube 10 will be extinguished by means of a voltage pulsecoupled back to the plate of tube 10 through condenser 45, and theremaining tubes of the ring will not be afiected; resistor 50 preventschanges in the grid voltage of tube 11 from disturbing the other tubesin the circuit. Thereafter, each time a triggering pulse is applied adifferent tube will conduct and the previously conducting tube willcease conducting. The order of stepping (in the embodiment shown) is 10,11, 12, 10, etc.

The proper operation of the circuit depends upon the selection ofcorrect values for resistors 20, 21, and 22 and the correspondingelements for the other stages. The following conditions must be met: theplate voltages of the conducting tube and the succeeding (primed) tubemust be so related that, when the latter starts to conduct, sufficientvoltage will be coupled back to the plate of the former to extinguishthe same; the cathode bias 2,858,477 ,5 Patented 28, 1 5

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provided by resistors 20, 23, and 26, mus't be suflicient to keep allbut onefltube from conductingjthere must be enough difierenc'ebetween'the currents i and i, (when tube 10 is conducting, for example)that the primed tube 11 may be more easily triggered than any othertube.

The resistor values can be determined by trial and error but calculationalso is possible according to the following formulas:

The foregoing description is in specific terms, and many modificationswill suggest themselves, so that for the true scope of the inventionreference should be had to the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A ring circuit including a succession of gas filled triodes eachcomprising a plate, a grid, and a cathode, a separate plate resistor foreach tube, a separate cathode resistor for each tube, a source ofvoltage including a positive terminal and a negative terminal and aplurality of circuits each including the cathode resistor for one tube,the plate resistor for the preceding tube, and a further resistorintermediate the same, a capacitative coupling between the plate of eachtube and the plate of its preceding tube, and means for applyingtriggering pulses simultaneously to the grids of said tubes, the valuesof the voltage source and the said resistors being so related as as topermit conduction in but one tube at one time, so to promote successiveconduction in selected tubes, and so as to provide suflicient voltage atinitiation of conduction in a tube to extinguish a preceding tube.

2. A ring circuit including a succession of gas filled triodes eachcomprising a plate, a grid, and a cathode, a separate plate resistor foreach tube, a separate cathode resistor for each tube, a source ofpositive voltage, a source of negative voltage and a plurality ofcircuits each including the cathode resistor for a difierent one of saidtubes, the plate resistor for the preceding tube, and a further resistorintermediate the same, a capacitative coupling between the plate of eachtube and the plate of its References Cited in the file of this patentUNITED STATES PATENTS Blount Nov. 24, 1942 Pearson Feb. 29, 1944Wilkerson Dec. 17, 1946

